Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 975: Chapter 238: Switching to a More Obedient Leader

International dynamics were constantly changing, but Franz could no longer manage to pay attention. The Holy Roman Empire had just been re-established, and there were piles of problems waiting for his attention.

The situation with each German nation was easy to resolve, as they were highly autonomous and did not require the Central Government to intervene in local affairs. After agreeing on the rights and duties of both sides, the matter was almost settled.

The Rhineland region had turned into ruins, with nothing left but a group of refugees. Post-war reconstruction became the main task of the Vienna Government in 1892.

The newly acquired Grand Duchy of Lorraine, Alsace Province, and the Kingdom of Burgundy were even worse. Although historically these regions had been territories of the Holy Roman Empire, the French had ruled there for centuries and their influence was deeply entrenched.

There were those who welcomed the Holy Roman Empire, but they were a very small minority; most of the populace sided with France.

Plainly put, such troubles were not something the Vienna Government would handle. Since the Austrian army had occupied the aforementioned areas, they had continuously deported French civilians.

Clearly, things were not going to be smooth. The French could be deported, but the civilians of the Holy Roman Empire could not be expelled.

This was a bad debt, as historically many of their ancestors had been part of the Holy Roman Empire. If someone spoke even a bit of German and claimed to be a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire, there was really no way to verify.

It’s hard to leave one’s homeland; to avoid deportation, those who could sneak in did so. Among them were also some anti-Austrian elements, who took the opportunity to hide.

Fortunately, the acquired territories were not large and had few deep forests, which were unsuitable for guerrilla survival. Otherwise, with the help of locals, it would not have been easy for the Austrian army to eliminate the guerrillas.

The absence of guerrillas did not equate to stability in the area. Perhaps inheriting the tradition of France, as soon as Vienna had released the appointment of local government officials, there erupted demonstrations and protests.

“How many people participated in the demonstration?”

Franz asked indifferently.

It was apparent that he was really angered. He had encountered uncooperative attitudes before, but never to such an extent.

If the officials appointed by the Central Government were not performing well and the locals wanted to resist, Franz could accept that. But to start causing trouble immediately after the announcement of personnel appointments was far beyond his tolerance.

Compromise was out of the question. If he were to back down, the authority of the Central Government would be finished. Who knows how many other places would follow suit.

Prime Minister Carl said, “About 200,000 people participated in the demonstrations, especially in the Burgundy region, where there were mobs storming government buildings.

According to the intelligence gathered, the planning of this action was carried out by a few small local parties. They wanted to coerce the Central Government into abolishing the press law and opening up voting rights through demonstrations to achieve regional autonomy.

After the situation escalated, the military took control of the locality immediately. Many political party members are currently being arrested, unfortunately, their leaders had left the country before the incident.”

“Autonomy” was no new term. The Holy Roman Empire naturally had a bunch of sub-states and autonomous regions due to historical legacies or special circumstances, making them unsuitable for direct governance by the Central Government.

Clearly, the three border provinces of Lorraine, Alsace, and Burgundy were not suitable for autonomy. Although the locals now claimed to be citizens of the Holy Roman Empire, that was on the premise of expelling the French, and many accepted this unwillingly because they did not want to leave.

Time was a butcher’s knife. It had been over a century, and no one could guarantee how strong the locals’ sense of belonging to the Holy Roman Empire was.

If they were granted autonomy, who knows when these people might collude with the French again.

Franz rubbed his temples and slowly said, “Issue a highest-level arrest warrant for these fugitives, dead or alive.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be ready, at the next meeting of the Continental Alliance, to propose a treaty combating transnational crime. We cannot allow overseas territories to be outside the law.

As for the people participating in the protests…”

Well, Franz hesitated. The number involved was too large; it would be a headache for anyone to handle.

“Reassess the identities of the local people, root out any French spies that have infiltrated, execute those with serious charges on the spot, and deport the rest!

The assessment criteria should not be limited to language. Any anti-government or anti-society speech, behavior, criminal records, failing to report known information, or intentionally concealing enemy spies should be scrutinized.”

“Scrutiny,” of course, was impossible. The remaining population numbered in the millions. To inspect each individual could take till the end of the century.

In this context, extreme measures were naturally the only option. In a nutshell, any citizen of the Holy Roman Empire was deemed supportive of the Empire, the Emperor, and determined to resist the enemy, possessing excellent traditional virtues.

Such actions that attempted to divide the country and harm state security were definitely not something the people of the Empire would do. The participants must be French spies.

There was no question of implicating others. In an era focused on lineage, if one was French, naturally the entire family was French, including all direct and collateral relatives. Anyone who did not actively expose this was a French spy.

Expanding this was not what Franz intended, but there was no choice. If these people were not deported now, it would be difficult to clear these hidden dangers in the future.

Just with the banner of the Holy Roman Empire, millions of French were willing to switch allegiance, which clearly seemed like the treatment bestowed upon a Child of Destiny. If there really had been such strong appeal, the Habsburg dynasty would not have been defeated by Napoleon.

After political measures had failed, Franz decisively chose to initiate the backup plan. From the start, the Vienna Government had not planned to obtain a population from France.

The seeds of hatred had long been sown; now it was simply a case of deepening the conflict between the two nations. To resolve this hatred and ease the conflict before this generation had died off was utterly out of the question.

Deep inside, Franz also felt a lingering fear. If these people hadn’t lost their nerve and exposed themselves early, they might truly have become a threat to Austria.

It goes without saying, just the influx of chaotic thoughts is more terrifying than any weapon.

Of course, that was impossible. If France were still powerful, their ideas might still tempt intellectuals, but now all anyone could learn from them were lessons from their failures.

In this regard, everyone was very pragmatic. They aimed to learn from successes; failures served only as warnings.

Not just outsiders were reflecting, but the French themselves were also introspecting. Consequently, the French intellectual world became even more chaotic.

There were those who cursed the Paris Revolutionary Government, those who vehemently denounced the monarchy, those who criticized the capitalist consortiums, those who blamed the British, those who despised the overwhelming forces of the Anti-French Alliance, and even those who attributed the defeat to “excessive freedom”…

With a plethora of ideas flourishing in Paris, it was a tangled mess to decide which could save France, and it wouldn’t be settled anytime soon.

Had the Anti-French Alliance just begun to withdraw, Paris might have already erupted into full-scale war. If the Vienna Government so wished, they could spark a civil war among the French at any moment.

Amidst such internal chaos, who had the time to trouble the Holy Roman Empire? Even if there was a desire to act, they were more willing than able but lacked the strength.

Prime Minister Carl: “Your Majesty, the situation in France is very dire. If we implement the backup plan, the Paris Government might not be able to hold on.

According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, France’s unemployment rate has already surpassed fifty percent, and the number of refugees has exceeded five million, most of whom are deportees from various countries. @@novelbin@@

If we deport the remaining millions back, France’s refugee numbers might well surpass seven million.

The war drained France’s lifeblood; what the Paris Revolutionary Government inherited was a disaster, and they simply do not have the capability to manage the aftermath.”

The reality was even grimmer than what Carl described; the Paris Revolutionary Government was not only short of money and supplies, but its control over the local governments was virtually non-existent—it was merely a facade.

Including the current refugee relief, it was managed by local governments and the nobility, many of whose finances were also on the brink of collapse.

Once they exceeded limits, local governments would stop refugee relief, and this ticking time bomb would detonate.

Franz was keenly aware of the horrifying consequence of refugees turning into bandits; it was like a black hole. Countless dynasties had been swallowed by this black hole in history.

“France’s population must have dropped below thirty million, right?”

Prime Minister Carl confirmed: “It reached that point long ago! Since the war started, France lost over a million migrants, countless died in battle, and even more from starvation.

The Paris Revolutionary Government lacked the capacity for governance, did not take timely measures in response, and watched the crisis worsen.

To stabilize the region, the Allied Forces stationed in France have had to repeatedly strike out to eliminate rebel forces.”

Franz nodded, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, “Since the Paris Revolutionary Government isn’t worth propping up, might as well push for a rebuild.

Implement the backup plan, and after the Paris Revolutionary Government collapses, support a royal restoration. It saves them from dithering, as they’ve been unable to select a king for so long.”

Where one stands depends on where one sits; as a beneficiary of the monarchic system, Franz naturally sought to maintain this system.

Luckily, France’s royal family was abundant; after the fall of the Bonaparte Dynasty, the Bourbons and Orleans were still available.

After forming the Continental Alliance, the first resolution was to order the restoration of the French monarchy. As a defeated nation, the French naturally had no strength to refuse.

But in implementation, this resolution, severely detrimental to the interests of the Paris Revolutionary Government, met resistance.

Unable to refuse openly, the Paris Government pushed forward the parliament to bear the brunt. With the parliament’s efficiency being what it was, it was normal not to have any results for three to five years.

As a rule-abiding leader, the Vienna Government naturally couldn’t interfere with another country’s internal affairs just because the French were slow, and so, the mater was dragged out.

With the matter unresolved, the Continental Alliance’s humanitarian aid plan for France was also put on hold. Initially, Franz was prepared to wait it out, using food to force the Paris Revolutionary Government to compromise.

But alas, the Paris Revolutionary Government stubbornly refused to cooperate, acting as if they were blind to the crisis, clinging to power tenaciously.

It seemed as if they believed that by merely holding out, the Vienna Government would compromise just to ensure regular reparations payments.

Such threats naturally did not scare Franz. The reparations the French needed to pay were indeed substantial, but right now, only about ten million Divine Shields were due, with only a few million falling on the Vienna Government’s share.

Such a sum, while significant for other countries, was but a day’s revenue for the Holy Roman Empire.

A loss was just a loss. Even missing a day’s revenue, the Vienna Government could carry on as usual without facing famine.

For his own peace of mind, Franz decided to kick out that disobedient, ineffectual Paris Revolutionary Government and replace it with one that would listen.